Goons open fire at Trinamool leader

Bullets flew indiscriminately in a central Kolkata locality late on Saturday as a fallout of 'faction feud' in the ruling Trinamool Congress.over the factional feud of ruling Trinamool Congress.

TNN | Jun 24, 2013, 12.53 AM IST

KOLKATA: Bullets flew indiscriminately in a central Kolkata locality late on Saturday as a fallout of 'faction feud' in the ruling Trinamool Congress. over the factional feud of ruling Trinamool Congress.

Police said that around midnight on Saturday, they rushed to Santosh Mitra Square after receiving a complaint of a shootout in the locality. When officers reached the spot, they found the panic-stricken locals running helter-skelter. The residents of the area told police that some miscreants opened fire indiscriminately. Local Trinamool Congress leader Sajal Ghosh alias Debu, son of councillor Pradip Ghosh, alleged that some motorcycle-borne miscreants arrived in front of his residence, abused him and opened fire when he came out of his home. Ghosh claimed that he has managed to identify some of the miscreants and lodged a complaint with the police mentioning their names.

However, on Sunday morning a counter complaint was registered with the local police where two youths, accused in Ghosh's complaint, alleged that Ghosh and his men opened fire. Later in the day, they held a street-corner meeting demanding Ghosh's arrest. Locals alleged that it's a fall out of Trinamool Congress' internal feud.

According to the locals, around 11.10pm on Saturday, problem broke out after three youths on a motorbike were crossing the Suri Lane. "They were drunk and driving dangerously along the congested lane. The bike even hit a pedestrian and some youths stopped them. An altercation then broke out between the locals and the bikers, who are from the neighbouring Creek Row area," said a witness.

Meanwhile, Ghosh, who was returning home, arrived at the spot. "Noticing the chaos, I stopped my car and found the bikers in a drunken state. I pushed them aside to pacify both the warring groups. As they were intoxicated, they misunderstood me and threatened me with dire consequences," claimed Ghosh. Locals, however, said that Ghosh slapped both the youths.

The bikers left the place but returned within a few minutes with some of their associates. Ghosh said that he had no clue and came out of his residence to find suddenly heard a chaos in front of his residence. He went out and found the bikers along with a dozen other youths hurling abuses at him. "They thrashed three locals who were standing on the road. As I went out, they attacked me. Sensing trouble, I moved for a safe shelter and the miscreants started chasing me. They fired at least six-seven rounds. I ran for life and sneaked into a house," said Ghosh, who named Drakula, Kelo, Kana Bubai and Ayush Julka among the miscreants in his complaint. Drakula is a notorious criminal who was earlier arrested several times. Ghosh claimed that he himself handed over four empty cartridges to police.

The accused youths, however, denied the allegation. Manas Sarkar, another local Trinamool leader and close to a Trinamool MP from South 24-Paraganas alleged that none of the accused opened fire. "It's a concocted story. Ghosh and his men opened fire when the youths protested after being manhandled," alleged Sarkar. Sources said that Ghosh belongs to the rival lobby of Sarkar and his mentor MP because the former is close to another Rajya Sabha MP of Trinamool Congress.

Police, however, remained tight-lipped on the issue. "We have received complaints and initiated a probe," said an investigator. D P Singh, DC central division, said that police did not recover any empty cartridge.

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